Maoyi Qiu
Maoyi Qiu is an artist, activist, and is a founding member of Q-Space—a queer feminist collective established in Beijing in 2016—as well as a member of Soupspoon Collective in Rotterdam since 2022. Qiu’s practice focuses on critical spatial practices, transfeminist somatic practices, dataveillance, and the impact of technology on the human body and emotions. Utilizing sound, video, and performance, their research revolves around the speculation of a somato-technological future, where the harmonious or conflicting relationship between the body and the machine becomes embodied. Through this, they aim to shed light on the affective aspects of technology on emotions and corporeal experiences. They believe that somatic practices, as forms of pedagogical resistance, can be instrumental in reshaping these dynamics, encouraging a shift from the objectifying and technologized treatment of bodies to transfeminist practices.
Their performances and exhibitions include: OUTLINE get-together #3, OT301, Amsterdam, 2023; South Explorer, Available & the Rat, Rotterdam, 2023; Rifts – MusicMakers Hacklab Finale, HAU 2, Berlin, 2023; Soupspoon Open Studio, Goethe Institute, Rotterdam, 2022; Seasonal Neighbours, Our Invisible Hands, Z33, Hasselt, 2022; and Symphony of Intimacies, Radial System, Berlin, 2022. Maoyi Lives and works in Rotterdam, and is part of the BAK Cell, Utrecht, in the Fellowship for Situated Practice.